J*A*S*M

Fascinating debut. A darkly atmospheric (and slightly horror-tinged) drama about the weight of family responsibilities that tells the story of three siblings whose coexistence is very negatively affected by the illness of one of them, who needs a constant supply of blood to survive – basically, he’s a vampire, though it’s never made explicit. The film clearly didn’t cost much, it makes do with the solid performances and the unquestionable talent of the creator. I almost don't understand how a film that was obviously very cheap can look so beautiful, but not in terms of set design, effects or camera gimmicks, but in its colour palette and the way it arranges the mostly static scenes. There are some shots that I would print, frame and hang in my living room. I'm fully convinced that if this guy doesn't stop filming, he'll be very famous one day (I hope to come back here in a few years and be glad that the prediction came true, heh). In its budget category, this is clearly one of the films of the year.

It bothers me a bit that all the plot of the second A Quiet Place stems from the fact that one of the characters comes up with a fairly sensible plan, but instead of thinking it through calmly and discussing it with the others, she immediately sets out to implement it herself, which, of course, sets in motion a number of problems and dangerous situations for herself and the others. It also suffers a bit from the syndrome of the second part of a trilogy (I reckon there’ll be a another sequel), which de facto doesn't begin or end in any way. And ultimately, I could’ve done without those cheap jump scares. Despite all that, however, this is very effective monster horror, and since this is my first cinema experience after ten months of covid misery and suffering, I can't go below a four.

I guess we've all gotten used to the fact that the label "sci-fi from Netflix" means crap four times out of five, and Awake, unfortunately, it’s not among the minority. The core premise is fine and could certainly be made into a solid post-apocalyptic romp, but the execution is generic, without any characters we can care about, and without energy, style or drive. I lost interest after a few minutes, and the whole thing goes off the rails ridiculously fast.

To be honest, I wasn't too keen on it. The promotional materials made Sweet Tooth feel like teen fantasy, a genre that usually gives me the creeps, but in the end, I made it through the whole series in one afternoon. It moves along nicely with some pretty interesting and rough stuff happening in the course of a few episodes. The only thing that bothered me were the make-up effects of the hybrids, which often are a little too "cute" and give the impression of a show aimed at kids, which is far from accurate in a story where infected unfortunates are merrily killed and burned alive. A funny thing is the striking similarities with the current pandemic situation, the penultimate episode could have taken place in the virology institute in Wuhan :D After eight episodes it's played out nicely and I'm quite curious about how it will continue.

Nothing against it. I stopped expecting major films with ambitions that would deliver something interesting, original or truly scary from the Conjuring universe, memorable films that could be inducted in the modern hall of fame. And that’s the reason why I quite enjoyed the third entry in the main series. Technically, it’s far more competent than Chaves’s The Curse of La Llorona, it’s not ridiculous and the leading couple remains likeable. The opening exorcism and the scenes with the fat man from the morgue are even excellent, but it’s a pity they don’t use the main villain enough. I could give it three stars, or four, I don’t care. But whatever, it’s four.

This movie pisses me off. The creators deliver a rather pleasingly bizarre premise and even with apparently quite meagre financial means they conjure up a strong horror psycho atmosphere, but I was entertained and interested for no more than twenty minutes or so. The rest goes in circles around that one house and it's kind of the same thing. Damian McCarthy has made some award-winning genre shorts, but this wasn't the right time to make the transition to feature-length.

Formally, a very nice treatment of the unfortunate end of the Dyatlov mountain expedition, which due to its mysterious circumstances became the subject of articles in mystery magazines and Renny Harlin's rather moronic horror film The Dyatlov Pass Incident, among others. The (great) first episodes hint at supernatural mystic horror, but unfortunately (at least for me) they are quite misleading and promise something from which the second half of the series basically turns away completely. Dead Mountain: The Dyatlov Pass Incident ends in a very realistic way, which for me – given my genre preferences – was disappointing. Plus, as time went on, I was annoyed by the numerous war flashbacks and the romantic line between the KGB interrogator and the forensic doctor. While I watched it, I went from being thrilled to unremarkably satisfied. 7/10

Let Saw rest already! Spiral: From the Book of Saw is nothing but a trite revenge thriller about dirty cops that might not even have any connection to the original series. The Saw brand is just a justification to cram in a few bloody traps, which, by the way, are so technically sophisticated that it makes you wonder how the bad guy managed produce them in the first place – and whether it was actually worth it. Nothing against them, though, those few brief bloody scenes are ultimately the best thing about the film, the rest is heavy police boredom with characters that are incredibly annoying (Zeke) or incredibly ridiculous (the chief), and also with a grossly unreadable conclusion.

To have such ugly special effects in a movie that will be shown in cinemas should be a crime against the laws of aesthetics. Otherwise, The Unholy is a completely futile horror novelty that absolutely squanders what is, at its core, quite a solid idea.

In the first act I had a problem with the characters, they seemed strangely out of touch with reality in terms of their behaviour, but once the narrative switches to other points of view it somehow falls into place. Wrath of Man is a masculine film, cold and without any hint of humour. If I didn't know who made it, I'd be much more likely to guess I was watching S. Craig Zahler's new movie than Guy Ritchie's. I don't usually look forward to new Jason Statham films, and I wasn't expecting anything from this one either, but it ended up being surprisingly the best action flick of the year so far. The ending at the depo reminded me of Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, which is the best possible calling card.